Waiting for summertime

Waiting for summertime
Originally uploaded by topochicovase

The dog days will be arriving. Please note: never, under any circumstances, do I dress my dog in human clothing. This oversize bandanna was applied by our vet, for free, without my consent.

But c'mon. It's borderline cute.

Proof of existence

I just finished invitations, minus about ten which I as of yet do not have addresses for. I also browsed our now totally array of music to choose from (I just went from a recessional song off of the Juno soundtrack to Bach. Mix-up much?) thanks to the new guitarist and e-mailed him some preferences.

So all of this is to say.. I'm not completely gone, just spending lots of time dotting i's and crossing t's and thinking of award-winning posts for down the line.

Happy spring— lots of rain there, too?

VB6

I entirely dig this article by Mark Bittman about the VB6 —Vegan Before Six— movement. It advocates eating vegan (or nearly-vegan) until dinner, which is something I can absolutely get behind, if not strictly. It actually shouldn't take too much modification for me, as I generally eat soup/salad/PB for lunch. Just have to cut eggs out of breakfast more often, and replace the turkey in my salads with black beans, but I could very happily survive. After two years as a vegetarian, I see the benefits of the lifestyle, though they don't outweigh the personal inconveniences on a social, economic, and now marital level. (Please, vegan advocates, rip me a new, dirty, chicken-eating one if you'd like; I love what you do, it just doesn't fit me at this point in my life! We all have our ways of reducing the impact, friends.)

So anywho. New goal, after I run to the grocery store next week— learn at least one new vegan recipe a week, preferably something hearty that I could convince Richard to eat on some days. I may steal my parents' slow cooker because basically everything made in a slow cooker tastes extraordinary. I've stocked up on vegan blog readings to do and admittedly feel a little overwhelmed, but I'll aim low for the time being.

Otherwise, I can always live entirely off of hummus.

Down, Tex. Down, boy. Stay. STAY!

I absolutely love my state.

Granted— and this has been a point of personal, inner-struggling contention with myself for the past year or so— I have never lived anywhere else. But for my age and economic means, I've done a fair bit of traveling ("abroad" in Texas can practically mean just crossing state lines, but I've been abroad actually, too, several times.)

My conclusion remains: whether I'm here for life or not, Texas is pretty incredible. From the blessing of dozens of diverse ecosystems to live, work, and romp in (just take 600 mile drive across I-10 or drive down 35; the changes are amazing), to the superior blessing of the best grocery store in the world (all hail HEB,) to a wealth of culture and humanity and technology and large-and-small scale agribusiness that can only come with the sheer population, land space, and money that Texas and Texans have to offer. We enjoy our image as a rebellious place with any number of last frontiers (I promise you; I have lived there: see Brewster County, TX) and cowboys and an assload of firearms and cows and oil rigs and, quite literally, much of what you see in the average Western film of silver screen glory days.

All that said, we are severely — severely lacking in areas because of a lack of efficient government or, in some cases, pure political apathy and ultra-socially conservative ideas. For example, when compared with the other Forty-Nine:

1. We are 50th when it comes to the percentage of eligible voters who actually turn out and vote.
2. We are 1st in air pollution emissions— and toxic chemical emissions to water— and carbon dioxide emissions.. oh, and cancer-causing carcinogen emissions to the air.
3. We're 1st in teenage birth rate levels.
4. Also 1st in the percentage of individuals over 25 without a high school diploma.
5. And 1st in the percentage of uninsured individuals.
6. Insofar as education goes, we rank 46th in SAT scores for graduating high school seniors.
7. .. and the list goes on. (according to Eliot Shapleigh, state senator from El Paso, who spends much of his time apparently compiling a report on all the things we suck at as a state.)

Clearly, we are not the shining beacons of efficient modern industry that we were, say, when somebody got around to inventing barbed wire and we went fence-happy on the prarieland.

With these facts standing indisputably to light, and with the nationwide political climate (and, oh yeah, that Wall Street / economy deal?!) in as flux of a state as it is (total sidenote— do you know about Fluxus? fascinatingly weird and seems very pre-Hipster kid to me) what does Rick Perry chose to offhandedly mention? Oh yes. Secession.

Let me share with you some of the wisdom of the TexasSecede.org FAQ:

Q: Is Texas really ripe for a secession movement? [BACK TO TOP]
A: Probably not (yet). Texans generally aren't the rugged, independent, liberty-conscious folks they once were. Like most Americans, they happily acquiesce to the U.S. government's steady theft of their rights and property via unlawful statutes, programs, and activities.

Unfamiliar with historical or legal details, being largely products of public (i.e., government) "education," today's Texans easily adopt the "politically correct" myths that litter the landscape of American popular opinion. Many don't even know what the word secede means, and believe that the United States is a "democracy" (hint: it's not)[8].

But public opinion and ignorance won't stop us from suggesting that secession is still a good idea for people who value their rights and personal liberty more highly than the temporal affluence, comfort, and false security provided by the U.S. welfare/warfare state. By raising public awareness of even the concept of secession, we hope they might plant seeds that will some day yield a new resolve among Texans for liberty and self-government.


Q: How would Texas—and Texans—benefit from secession? [BACK TO TOP]
A: In many ways. Over the past century-and-a-half the United States government has awarded itself ever more power (but not the lawful authority) to meddle with the lives, liberty, and property of the People of Texas (as well as those of the other States).

Sapping Texans' wealth into a myriad of bureaucratic, socialist schemes both in the U.S. and abroad, the bipartisan despots in Washington persist in expanding the federal debt and budget deficits every year. Texans would indeed gain much by reclaiming control of their State, their property, their liberty, and their very lives, by refusing to participate further in the fraud perpetrated by the Washington politicians and bureaucrats.

By restoring Texas to an independent republic, Texans would truly reclaim a treasure for themselves and their progeny.

Ah. Right. It's The Socialists! All these new Socialists in the White House, and their Little Marxist Dog, too! Since we do so incredibly well ourselves at regulating our own education system (raise your hand if you are young enough to recall /believe that the TAKS was absolutely absurd?,) paying our teachers (I forgot to mention— 49th in the nation!) and monitoring our own welfare and health via medical coverage and truckloads of free radical carcinogens, it's time to think about our break from the 'States.

How absurd is this? Absurd enough to get a nod from our brilliant and efficient Governor, Rick Perry. Extremist? Yes. What's interesting is the short amount of time it took conservatives to switch hats and become the patron saints of rebel-rousing and this twisted brand of community activism. (The general purpose being to destroy the central community, but ah, details, right?)

I think James Moore's Huffington Post article is invaluable to read for Texans. I'll leave you with my favorite excerpt:

..Perry blatantly suggested during the Fox News National Tea-Bagging Festival that Texans are about ready to leave the union because they are sick of Washington. In one cartoonish moment, the Republican standard bearer in this state insulted our entire democracy and every man or woman from Texas who has served under the Stars and Stripes. What is it they fought and died for governor? Was it so you could leave the union when people who had different politics than you were in the majority? I think we had that horror already in our history and, if you read when you were growing up out in Paint Rock, you would know that it was called the Civil War.

If a governor of a Democratic state had suggested such a thing during the administration of the previous president then you and every Republican in the land would have been demanding he or she be tried for treason. Suddenly, you fancy yourself a folk hero leading a band of revolutionaries. Turn around for a minute, pull back the hair from your forehead, and take a good look at who's following you. They are the 2009 version of Rick McLaren's wingnuts.

Oh, and finally—
The Future of the Lone Star Republic! (In case you wanted the spoiler edition before we all slash and rope our way to freedom with our Bowie knives.)

A mixed weekend

So this was our first father-son weekend of the spring and if I do say so myself, all was a success. Of course there's some interesting, larger-than-life dads and beyond-amusing-into-the-realm-of-wow-you're-going-to-be-an-overly-exciting-camper-to-be-around sons, but overall, the families were wonderful. There were two boys especially that absolutely had my heart; they were precious— but little boys will do that to you! I belayed on the rock wall all morning without gloves, which was stupid as the ropes were filthy, but I enjoy belaying more and more every chance I get at it. The afternoon was riding, which is always frustrating but, in my opinion, rewarding. We were short on riding staff but it worked. Bandit was fairly good for the first half but his mind was elsewhere the latter part of the afternoon— he spazzed out and broke a four-horse-long string of dallied horses and I was annoyed. But alas, it's been a month since I've been on him. He's in good condition on that senior feed; I need to take pictures. He looks wonderful at fifteen! Ahh.. he turned fifteen this week.. Wow. I've had him since he was barely six.

Anyway, the rest of today was rock wall belay again, some clean-up, and lots of sitting around and talking. Pretty easy if I do say so myself, and I even got a little paycheck which should pay for Hop's vet checkup this month and the fact that my car needs crap done to it. Boo.

Kate, Drew, Matt (a younger guy from Alamo Heights), and eventually Kile all helped out for the weekend. It ended up being a really fun group despite seeming like an odd dynamic on the outset. Virgin strawberry margaritas will always make me laugh now.

Hopalong thought Father-Sons were amaaazing. Found out that he gets to stay through the summer definitely, which I'm vastly excited about. He almost went down the waterslide, ran through the dining hall during lunch, humped Kiley during the rock wall morning, stole a box of graham crackers and two Hershey's bars during campfire and ate them, and lifted his leg and marked a "tree" which actually turned out to be a kid army-crawling around in the grass in a camouflage coverall. Overall a success and he was very well-liked.

Sad, though, is Molly's condition. She spent a lot of the weekend asleep on my porch (I made her a bed out of some fake sheepskin material and two dry bags) and has trouble getting up or walking or anything else. One kid asked why we were letting a dog starve to death— she does look awful. I didn't expect my own reaction, though, when Scott and I cajoled her to get off my porch and drive home with his family— he told the quaking-legged Molly to "say goodbye" to me and I absolutely lost it. Can't even tell you exactly why, but I sobbed for a good half-hour. I wasn't as worked up about my grandad's death at the actual time. She was such a wonderful dog, so, goodbye, Molly. I'm glad Richard is out in the world to field my hysterical phone calls at 2 in the afternoon on a Sunday. Gosh, I do miss him.

Bridal rumblings and what I ate for lunch

Sniffs
Originally uploaded by topochicovase

So I have been a good little nightowl recently and have our ceremony (and my vows) written out pretty much to the letter. Things can change, of course of course, but it feels good to have in my hand (/on my GoogleDocs account) a copy of the meat of the whole shindig. Were there no cakes or flowers or biodegradable, compostable flatware, the wedding element of the wedding is good to go and somehow that makes the sprawling list of other details feel quite managable. The words are fairly sparse and there's no indication that Arthur is "officially marrying us"— in Quaker tradition, our written vows are what marries us, ourselves, not the blessing of a pastor or priest or high witch doctor or whathaveyou. The friends and family are asked to guard over the marriage, so it's participatory in that fashion— instead of "speak now or forever hold your peace," we'll ask anyone to share their thoughts or wishes and kind of leave an open floor for speaking. I thoroughly plan on beating at least two people into speaking no matter what, so there's no super awkward silence. My guess is that at least a fraction of the La Junta counselor staff will be two and a half sheets to the wind at that point, so getting them to shut up could potentially be the issue at hand.

A happy addition to the plans is Kevin McCormick, a local classical guitarist who my boss, Dave, knows from the church community. He's going to play for the ceremony and the early, transition stage of the picnic reception (before the rowdy iPod ballads and Cupid Shuffles make their debut) as our wedding gift from the Domingues— his speciality being, of course, Catholic church music and Latin American guitar solos, which I'm quite infatuated with. Currently listening to his CD, Americas, that Dave lent me and it's fairly perfect for this rainy day. Into which I need to go to ride the last of this week's ponies.. Le sigh! Anyway, from a nonmusician standpoint and as someone who gave up the acoustic guitar by the sixth grade, I'd say the guy is good. If you've heard his stuff or look at his website and have any opinions on more upbeat/less dower recessional and processional songs, give me the heads up.

I've been eating pretty well lately and feeling better for it. Simple meals are very often my favorite— like for lunch today, I George Foreman-ed (I'm becoming a devout George follower) a skinless lean chicken breast covered in citrus pepper, covered the top with half of an avocado sliced up, and then filled 2/3 of the plate with spinach salad with Balsamic vinegarette and bleu cheese crumbles. Pretty much delish. Still nibbling a piece or two of Easter chocolate, though. Who knew that one could like Butterfinger eggs while not actually enjoying Butterfinger bars themselves?

The horses have been good, actually. As I said, I'm about to go finish up with the last three and get everyone roached and summerified before the fathers and sons show up this weekend. (Along with Kate, Drew, and Matt. Yay, friends!)

Therefore I need to clean. Boo.

As an important reminder, Stride gum in the magenta box is disgusting. Tastes like Hannah Montana perfume bought at The Limited, Too. If you can imagine how that would feel to your palette.

Also, my porch is The Dog Porch. Observe.

Crap. Need to do stuff.

Before the end of the month— or, more appropriately, like this week. Oops.

• Hop to vet. Rabies, rattlesnake, heartworm.
• Car to Dodge dealer. Fix auxiliary cable and explain funny sound related to tire movement.
• Car to get brakes looked at.
• Car to get tires looked at.
• Car to get inspected.
• Clean inexplicably junky house.
• Make doctor appointment.
• Figure out something brilliant but not overpriced to give Julie for her 24th. 25th? Crap. I fail. I'll bet money on 25th.
• Determine some way to cash excitingly large yet British check from Richard's Granny. Deposit in savings whilst understanding it'll probably all be gone by September on immigration fees. Oye.
  

Ever so ready for summertime. (Or getting there!)

Favorites
Originally uploaded by topochicovase

Yesterday and today —and likely as not, tomorrow and the next and on into the weekend— were filled with moving horses from their winter pastures and back to camp, and getting everyone set for Father-Son weekends which start this Friday. Nobody put up any fuss except Smokey, an old black BLM mustang, who plum half-reared when I tried to move him away from his buddies. We had a very minor come-to-the-Lord-almighty meeting and I got him moved out a ways and then took him back— he's a line horse, always has been a line horse, well into his teens or early twenties, and I'm not going to spend days and injuries trying to fix a horse who does his job well but little else. Maybe that doesn't speak much for my perseverance, but I also know what battles to fight and which to express an opinion on and step back aways.

I think I'm going to back off of uploading Facebook pictures for awhile, unless they're party shots ripe for tagging. (And exactly how many parties have I attended since last summer? Yup, a whopping one or two, I think. Tops.) It never stops annoying me that they get reduced down to no quality. That said, I've only been using my sorry little water/shockproof Olympus for all of these photos recently— it does a fair job, but I need to get back to learning the new dSLR! I think I'm still bitter about the loss of my last one (RIP Pentax, my first love) and haven't really put much effort into gaining ease of use with the new cam.

So, woot! Flickr! See more shots from the sunny stables today.

Afternoon naps = not my usual 11 p.m. grandma bedtime.

Janis Joplin and I should've had a chance to hang out.

One of these mornings
You’re gonna rise, rise up singing,
You’re gonna spread your wings,
Child, and take, take to the sky,
Lord, the sky.

But until that morning
Honey, n-n-nothing’s going to harm you now..

I really want to write a children's book about my dog and the recession. Understandably that thesis may not have you at the edge of your seat, but I swear, I have a passably creative idea— sometime I'm going to have a few weeks off from life to sketch and play with watercolors and make notes and ohidunnorichardtellsmeishoulddoit. And within limits, I think he has fairly clever ideas.

For anyone of a mind to get married in the near future, the most mindless part of the process (I believe) is the selection and comparison process of chair and glassware rental. Richard has made one simple request for the entire ceremony, and as he is a bartender, it only seems fair to have actual stemware and glasses. My big deal is compostable plates / napkins / utensils which are fairly unnatractive, but I can dig reusable rented glassware. But jesus-h, it is not fun to search for the stuff and compare prices. Same with the chairs. Like I really care? If it were up to me, and if we were being as budget-concious as I'd like and as anti-heavy-ceremony as I'd like, everybody could stand. That makes me horrible, I know. But seriously. These details are lame. Let's eat cake, dance some, take lots of pictures together, and I'll wear a dress and go home with a permanent, I-liked-it-so-I-put-a-ring-on-it portable best friend.

Next to take on.. Tables. I need to figure out a cool table cloth or table runners or something of that nature that's cheap and super, super colorful. I've already amassed a fairly impressive collection of thrift store glass vases which I'm going to clean up and arrange with river stones and sunflowers. But we need more COLOR! I guess we could rent brilliant-colored napkins or something. Holy crap, Richard's family is probably going to hate it. Telling myself it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.. >_<

Current disappointment in life: the new Decemberists album / "rock opera." Picaresque was a vastly better record with less screetching about a "rake." It almost bugs me how much I hate the new sound in comparison to "16 x 32" or "Summersong." Alas.

Happy Easter/Benevolent-Zombie-Jesus Day!

rem1
Originally uploaded by topochicovase

Nothing says "Easter" more than a half-shaved, googley-eyed monster in your garden.

Easter was good. No two ways about it. At my 645 wake-up call, the pouring weather and thunderclaps felt a bit grim, but all was wonderful and springy by noon and I could wear a turquoise eyelet shift Richard bought for me last summer and feel warm. We picked up Grandma and visited Grandad's crypt and then had a family meal at my Aunt and Uncle's. I got to meet my second-third-fourth-something-twice removed-dunno little cousin Luke for the first time; he's almost three and precious. Apparently he loves horses and has been riding before so I'm hoping he'll come out and ride Bandit some weekend.

Besides that, napped, played with the dogs, ate my weight in chocolate eggs and bunny M&Ms and Dove chocolate rabbits, and finished up the first planting in the backyard. Hopalong helped with the digging. Obviously there's a long way to go, as evidenced from the pictures, but it's a good start. Even though I've spent so much time working around gardeners and naturalists and biologists and those kinds, this is my first self-attempt at a big planting and it's a bit exciting. I wish I could be home more for the next month to see how things pan out.

It came to my attention today that there's about six or seven weeks until I need to have All The Wedding Crap In Line. Because camp starts, and then we transcend to another planet devoid of constant internet access, spare minutes to spend tasting cake, and most of the natural freedoms folks in first-world nations enjoy. This has only brought upon a mild panic, but.. hmm. Might ought to get on that?

Father Son retreat weekends start this Friday, and I'm quite excited to see Kate this weekend and Kile, Tobbe, Brett, Drew, and others in the following weekends. This week is going to be full of hauling horses in from winter pasture and throwing a saddle on them all before kids ride on Saturday, which means afternoons at the barn, which I'm pretty content about. Busy, yes, but in the stables is a-ok by me. Bandit may be a bit neglected, but that's certainly the nice thing about having a horse in his mid-teens.. The rollercoaster of behavior between being worked and off days is much milder. I know I can hop on him in a month and he's going to be pretty steady.

6.5 weeks until Richard comes to the U.S.!

Currently making me laugh: British comedian Charlie Broker discussing the variety show that is Fox News.

salvia1

salvia1
Originally uploaded by topochicovase

Salvia greggii; I get kind of giddy about this plant. It's what started a lot of the xeriscaping movement and I first learned about it when I volunteered at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute near Fort Davis. I think the red's my favorite, though this fuchsia is a toss-up, and I'm hoping for hummingbirds! :)

More dirt & mulch.

pedro1
Originally uploaded by topochicovase

You can see the start of the side yard (and some of the brush I removed) and I'm not sure if we're going to try for some native grasses in there or not. Going to see how the investment on the opposite side does for the next month (I won't be home for at least three or four weekends) and if it holds up well, I may just repeat the wildscaping on the other side and save some clump grasses for up underneath the young Spanish oak, which is directly behind the camera.

Those are Radiance, Confetti, maybe? and Texas Flame and lantanas up against the stones, and a Mexican honeysuckle in the foreground.

Finishing up my parents' backyard; stage 1

hopper1
Originally uploaded by topochicovase

Like I said.. I hesitate to take pictures because nothing looks very impressive after you've torn up all the existing plants in favor of grass and left nothing but exposed dirt and a few piddly-looking weeds and mulch! But oh well. I really just wanted to show off my flossy muck boots discovered in the garage from my FFA days and bathing steers.

Easter Saturday supper

P4110001
Originally uploaded by topochicovase

This is my first Easter home since high school. So I'm kind of giddy. I don't really like going all out for holidays --or, that isn't our style-- but I love the little celebrations. Nice meal, wine, and some flowers on the table. It's the simple things, no?

Guess who just got buzzzzed?

P4110010
Originally uploaded by topochicovase

Rembrandt looking more like George Washington without his five inches of fluff. (All dogs hanging out in kitchen upon dinner preparation; tell me this doesn't just happen in our house?)

Spent Thursday night, most of Friday, and probably this upcoming evening planting my parents' backyard. Three young dogs and a lack of somebody young to do any gardening has reduced what was once planted, grassy, and full of rosemary bushes and mint to dirt, weeds, and one voracious red-tip photinia and a Spanish oak we planted from an acorn. And my mom's bougainvilleas. I went out late on Thursday and broke ground the prepared half the yard for planting --not a particularly easy job, but did a good job replacing the workouts I've been skipping for a week. Brought back memories from my trail-building days with TPWD-- and designed a rough plan with plants and guides and my folks sprang for a bunch of plants on Friday morning. It's looking good (small, but good! we've got several months before it's going to look fuller) and all very water-savvy; lots of Mexican sages, blackfood daisies, lantanas, etc. I may take pictures tomorrow, or I may not.. it simply does not look impressive, and my parents would kill me if they knew I was posting pictures of the tragedy that was our backyard.

Also convinced my parents to switch to premium, non-HEB-aisle dog food. That took some selling. Rembrandt and Pedro have skin issues and I'm thinking their nasty Beneful is to blame.

Feeling pretty excited about the thought of a revitalized rail system in the U.S. Also fairly annoyed about the Somali pirates. We're spending X amount of dollars on ridiculous amounts of defense, yet a lifeboat without fuel is beyond our capabilities? Hmm.

Also, this marks the first Easter I think I've been home since High School! And so I'm feeling quite inclined to eat Cadbury eggs and decorate the table with fresh lavender asters. :)

Holiday weekends are, how do you say? "Muy bueno."

I'm home for Easter in San Antonio. Definitely looking at the city in a different way; not necessarily more or less critical than before, but knowing I have signed myself up for a year of striving for improvement in this place certainly adds more interest to the landscape. I haven't felt real nervousness about living on "the other" side of town yet; it feels somewhat like an adventure, even if it takes a couple of months for Richard and I to be steady enough on our feet to rent instead of cohabitate with Mom, Dad, or Grandma.

Three thoughts on how I currently think life should be lived:
(May change tomorrow, yanno. No promises.)

Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Adventure is worthwhile in itself.
— Amelia Earhart

Man's nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been know to yield to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature.
— Mohandas Gandi

Probably one of my favorite things in the world now is The Moth podcast. Basically, various people get up and tell a story on mic. No notes. Arguably they're all true stories. Some hilarious, of course, and on the opposite end of the spectrum, some that leave you steely-armed at the wheel of your car with saucer-sized leaky eyeballs. Some are ten minutes, others are closer to thirty. My friend Ellen turned me on to it and it's yet another Super Free Thing brought to you by NPR.

My yellow dog is just likely cooler than you are. He's far cooler than I. I think he ate a worm today while I was down with my class fishing by the bravery tree. He definitely went turtle-diving in the middle of the kids, causing an satisfying shower. I'd love to be a dog sometimes.

Life Update in 90 Seconds

If you're catching up or care to know:

1. My full-time internship at La Junta ends 7 August.
2. I'm out of university a year now, at age 22.
3. Looked at several outdoor education jobs for next year. Ran into difficulty because of housing and Richard's lack of work permit / green card 'til December. Frustration, tears, throwing things, etc.
   
4. Was made aware of AmeriCorps City Year program from a good girl friend. Went through the application / interview process, was accepted. Decided it almost wasn't worth it (my heart was set on PeaceCorps and had been so since early high school.)
5. Changed my thinking. Did more reading on City Year. I'm committed for 2009 - 2010 and thoroughly and completely ready.
6. Will finish the summer running the stables and being part of the camp program staff. Possibly last (and fourth) summer here = sadness.
7. Getting married to pretty awesome person on 14 August, a Friday. Super-brief honeymoon plans involve camping gear, canoe, and Silly Yellow Dog.
8. Plan to move to inner-city San Antonio if not by August, then by December, once Richard can work. It'll be my first time in the middle of a big city— but I'm ready.
9. After City Year? I'd like a camp / outdoor ed. job out-of-state for a few years. Possibly seasonal traveling.
   

A new blog means I'm starting fresh.

.. Which isn't exactly the case at the minute, as I'm at the same desk, doing the same tasks. But developments are a-comin', changes should be a-happenin', and my 5-year-old LiveJournal is based off of a website that's shrouded in much more secrecy and "friends-only" entries than Blogger, where I've seen more and more friends open up to the thought of typing out fragments of their lives. I'm not a necessarily private person (not on purpose, anyway) so why not give it a go?